Tali Shimamura
Tali Shimamura '''is a Freshman student at T.S.J High School. Ms. Shimamura is a frighteningly generous and extroverted individual, enjoying to make new acquaintances and friendships. Her bright and outgoing personality has proven to be hard to resist. Her Quirk is Quantum Entanglement and is professionally known as '''Quantum Hero: Brightshine. Tali came from a broken home, one where her father was not longer in the picture. Due to one reason or another, their marriage had dissolved and left Tali and her brother with their mother, The Bright Hero: Braveshine. It was an easy and comfortable life, one which would swiftly be ended. At the very young age of six, tragedy had already struck the life of Tali and her brother Dante as their mother passed away in the line of Hero Duty, trying to subdue a rampaging Villain. Yet their misery would not end there. It was not long before their Father, Adam Shimamura, came to take them with him, caring for them again as he once had. While not mistreated or abused, and far from living in poverty, Tali and Dante felt miserable under his custody. Then came a day which would be etched into their memory for all time. Adam took them out of their beds in the middle of the night and offered them something which seemed akin to a pill. Ignorant about the world and placing their faith in their father, they swallowed the pill. Within hours they were running a fever and had to be rushed to the hospital for intensive care. Soon the fever would dissipate, but by that time, Tali and Dante sat orphaned as their father had mysteriously vanished after authorities wanted to question him about his work and treatment of the kids. Tali's quirk, once reflecting that of her mother's, now was more akin to the quirk she would have had if she had inherited her father's quirk as well. Still living as orphans, they now live as "wards" of T.S.J High, having taken a particular liking to Atem Moto, jokingly calling him her Uncle. Appearance With just a faint glimpse in tali's direction, one can get a sense of what kind of girl Tali is. Proper, fancy, kind, maybe a bit uptight, are all perfectly valid interpretations to make about her. What few would consider however is the possibilty of her assuming Hero Work. To many, she may seem a bit too frail or unathletic for said profession, just a bit too unfit for the duties it entails. Her long and slender frame with little muscle mass to be found, yet blessed with rather generous assets, coupled with her almost overly stylized hair leads many to think that she would rather seek a profession in something less physically active and more stylized line of work. Despite being something of a bland color, her favorite color scheme is white, which can be quite evident as it is all but impossible to find her walking around without any form of white, whether it is a top, jacket, pants or evens something as simple as a pair of socks or stockings. Something that is rare for her to be seen in is her school uniform anywhere else than the classroom, otherwise, she deviates quite a bit from it, going dressed around in whatever she feels like or at the very least putting her own little twist on the uniform look. She despises to wear the same outfit as her classmates, not out of a distaste for the outfit itself or her fellow comrades, but because she hates to just be "one in the crowd". Personality Tali is an extroverted woman by nature, enjoying to engage in conversations with others and to try and build friendships upon those conversations. She wants to do everything in her power to make those she cares for happy, and to see to their needs before her own. This is not to say that she always puts their wants above her own. She has been described as excessively competitive, wanting to outshine her competition with style and grace, something which sometimes has led to the frustration of others. While this competitive nature is partially due to her wanting to be the best in order to defeat all manners of villains, it is also born out of a desire to see her comrades and friends excel as well, by raising the bar of what one should achieve and accomplish as a hero, and thus encouraging improved feats. Many view this as just an excuse, but such is her way. The girl is quite a carefree spirit, rarely caring about her worldly issues. Or, at the very least, that is the image she wants to get across. Like any other being, there are things which get to her, yet she does not want to give off the look of her actually being concerned. It has all but become a habit to be as such. After their mother passed away and her brother only barely survived his severe fever in their youth. Depression set in with the young boy, something which has extended well into his mid-teen years, Tali tries to play off the sadness of their lives and just walk about as if nothing is wrong, to give her brother an image of strength and confidence, something he lacks emotionally. Through her efforts, she has pulled Dante through some of his darkest times and even helping her own inner turmoil from rising to the surface. Tali is a bright and upbeat young woman, almost always found with a smile on her face or humming a soft or upbeat tune. What many don't realize though is that much of this is just for appearance, a facade so to speak. Not to say that she is of a negative disposition, but like most people, she is normally of a "resting/indifferent" feeling, but there is one person she does this for, someone which she makes sure to try and cheer up with her own joy, feigned or not: her brother. Dante was the one who suffered the worst from both the fever of their youth and the fall of their mother. So to cheer him up she does her damndest to always appear glad so that he will not be so glum, a tactic which oftentimes works wonders. For the times when she is upset herself, she tends to go through the same steps in order to bring up her mood, but should she fail in that, she will begin to rely on good ol' Ice Cream. Many would describe her as a person who is incapable of holding grudges and feeling spite towards other, and in many regards, they are correct. Tali has shown to have an egregious amount of sympathy for even the vilest of criminals. Not to the point of stopping her from doing her job but enough so to not mistreat, abuse or terrorize the villains and criminals she encounter. She describes that part of this is because she finds hate and spite to be such a nasty feeling, something so horrid that she feel nauseous just thinking about it. She certainly gets angry, just like anyone else, she just doesn't allow it to fester. She deals with her frustrations and then moves on, often attempting to come to terms with the one she was mad at in the first place. There is, however, one person in the world she genuinely hates, someone who she can't forgive and feels nothing but contempt for. This man had cost her and Dante everything: Their home, their Mother, and very nearly their own lives. Their father. Though while she wishes nothing but the worst for him, she would never go so far as to ask for his death, even if she finds the idea most tempting. Tali has been shown to be easily excitable, to the point where even the slightest of surprises can have her jumping up and down the walls. She can easily be made happy under even the simplest of circumstances, such as a simple gift, a compliment, or if you really want to see her soar to the heavens, throw her a party and she will adore you forever. She is one to spread happiness and joy to others, being under the belief that good comes to those that do good. She is often times the one to arrange little events in her school for times of "importance" such as Christmas, Valentines Day, New Years and so forth, trying to spread some good feelings to her classmates. History Equipment Quirk and Abilities Physical Abilities Enhanced Strength: While her form is lithe and seemingly unfit for duty, Tali possesses impressive strength for someone of her size and stature, having been compared to a boxer in muscular strength. This is a natural result of her quirk, empowering her body constantly on a base level. This is not something she is able to turn on or off, it simply is, and she tries to make the best of it. This strength of hers is most deceptive as few, if any, can guess at a glance just how far her muscles can take her when exerted to their fullest. However, as she is a bit vain, she all but refuses to do much muscle work to improve as she fears that it will "ruin" her figure. Even so, while the peak human condition carrying ability is to lift two times ones won weight, Tali is capable of lifting three times her own weight, and while healthy, cannot be considered peak condition. Enhanced Speed: '''Much like her strength, it can come as quite a surprise of how fast she is, even though it is far more reasonable to expect such from her, as her build speaks for speed rather than brawn, and most of it can be attributed to the natural effects of her quirk. While she can't be compared to a professional, top condition athlete, she is still quite the step above the average human being. '''Incredible Durability: '''A field in which Tali truly excels in, whether intentional or not. Tali has proven to be incredibly durable against many forms of physical threats and injuries. She can walk away unscathed from punching full-force against an unyielding rock, shin-kick great tree trunks without injury, and her most impressive feat was displayed during the Hero/Villain exercise from School, where she dueled Zenji in single combat, fighting him to a standstill and even making it through being punched straight through solid concrete and steel rods with just some measly sensitive bruises to show for it. Amplified with her light enhancers, this skill is likely to become even greater, though at the risk of greater health issues should she push herself too far for too long. '''Weapon Specialist: '''Tali is an adept combatant with a vast variety of weapons and equipment, most of which are from an ancient time. While possessing a masterful skill and unnatural accuracy with the Hand-Canon, her preferred means of battle is with her light forged weapons, such as the swords, hammers, shields and so forth. Her skill with these weapons ranges from adept to expertly performances, her most potent weapon combo being the shield and khopesh or hammer to offer maximum utility and strength, and her weakest being the Strings of Neith, being a newly developed skill that still needs a lot of practice despite it's latent potency. '''Intermediate Hand-to-Hand: '''Tali are many things, but a natural hand-to-hand martial artist is not one of them. While in no shape or form a master of the arts, nor even adept at it, she still possesses some basic grappling and throwing skills, just enough so that she does not become helpless in close quarters should her light run dry. Quirk '''Quantum Entanglement: Tali's is in possession of an Emitter type Quirk that grants her unprecedented combat prowess for a freshman student. Quantum Light is in fact not a naturally born quirk. Typically, a child inherits their quirk from either of the parents or a combo of both the quirks, which in this case turned out to be her mother's quirk of generating and manipulating photons and light waves. However, while her mother proved to be a strong and efficient hero, she never managed to stand out or become too powerful, something which eventually led to her unfortunate demise. Wishing to prevent this fate for Tali, her father, Adam Shimamura, created a brand new quirk which he bestowed upon Tali to use for her own benefit. This quirk was the ability to manipulate and generate quantum particles, properties, and powers to use at her behest. However, as she is of the blood type A, her natural properties, rather than to keep these quirks as two separate things, fused into one single new quirk, in which she can amplify her light attacks with quantum physics, making her magnitudes stronger than previously. With this new power in hand, she can perform light attacks of various properties, such as the forces of lightning, heat, cold, and either shape ammunition or weapons to utilize in combat. What's more, she is capable of naturally absorbing light of all various kinds together with the radiation that accompanies it, granting what she calls charges to use for her hero-moves. Her most common way of utilizing this quirk is to fuel her trademark Hand Canons with ammunition by dedicating a minimal amount of hardened photons to shape up bullets, either by creating them herself or by spending her charges to make them. One Charge can fuel up to fifty bullets. Tali can currently stock up on thirty charges before running dry but can recover it quicker if exposed to extensive rays of light and radiation. Thanks to her innate ability to incorporate electrons into her hardlight attacks, she is capable of performing extremely potent moves. Thanks to the electrons, she is capable of performing light attacks with the potency of electricity and even alter her own body to amplify or morph it with static power. Her moves can paralyze, shock, and if she so desires, with some continuous exposure she can dissolve her opposition. She can increase her strength temporarily coursing electrons through her muscles, either strengthening them or making them contract to the point where they harden and constrict like a rock. However, despite such incredible power and versatility at her arsenal, the quirk comes with its fair share of drawbacks and weakness'. For example, abundant use of the speed can end in ordinarily catastrophic results. Especially considering her reckless tendency to overuse her quirk's abilities, it has been a common sight for her to be rendered with a few digits or limbs less than she previously possessed. Granted, she is capable of recovering what she lost this way with further and greater exposure to intense light, UV and/or lesser amounts of radiation. For anyone else, this would be a severe problem, but with her quirk continuously absorbing light into herself, exposure which could fry the human skin in a minute is more like a simply summers day for her. Moves * Lightspeed: '''Tali infuses her body with the properties of Photons to drastically enhance her speed, allowing her to move much faster than she could naturally. By phasing her body and including photons in her physical being, about a 10% ratio, she can run at speeds comparable to a sprinting Cheetah, and then maintain such speeds for an extended duration. Lightspeed can also be used to alter objects and infuse them with the property of her photons, making them go faster or hitting with greater force against an opponent. If she so desires, Tali can infuse herself, not only with photons but with electrons as well, which will serve to even further enhance her speed and strength and even dampen the pain she feels from excessive use. However, as with everything, it comes at a price. Granted a rather small price to pay, in such that it drains her stored light much faster than usual, meaning that she can sustain her form for a shorter amount of time. * '''Tachyon-Haste: '''Tali pushes the idea of Lightspeed to its logical extreme. This move, while not incorporating actual tachyons, is a technique which bestows incredible speeds to herself or objects. Tachyon-Haste is a follow-up technique to Lightspeed, allowing her to incorporate even more photons into her being, up to a current safe maximum of 25%, allowing her to, for temporary bursts, sprint at speeds comparable to the likes of a sky-diving Peregrine Falcon. If she so desires, Tali can infuse herself, not only with photons but with electrons as well, which will serve to even further enhance her speed and strength and even dampen the pain she feels from excessive use. However, as with everything, it comes at a price. Granted a rather small price to pay, in such that it drains her stored light much faster than usual, meaning that she can sustain her form for a shorter amount of time. However, it is also not unheard of her to surpass the safe limit of 25% in order to achieve greater strength and speed at the risk of her own health. By breaching her limitation of 25, she can risk her digits or even entire limbs dematerializing. * '''Bullet-Make: '''As the name might imply, Tali creates a cartridge of Photon/Electron/Photoelectron bullets to be used in her hand-cannons, allowing for her to shoot from a distance or close range with great potency while still paying an absolute minimum for their creation. These bullets can join together into a single more potent bullet, as demonstrated when Tali used her hand-cannon to shoot a bullet straight through a concrete wall which proceeded to nearly shatter it as a result. * '''Light Stream: '''Tali creates a beam of photons which is expelled from the palm of her hand, sending it out in a potent ray of hardened light, striking foes with incredible might. This light stream can also be heated to incredible levels thanks to the properties of the photons, heating to the point of burning like fire. The stream is a long ranged, sustained beam style attack which can pierce through steel constructs, rock, and even solid concrete. * '''Photon Hover: '''This move is entirely made for the sake of utility, and serves little to no combat purpose. This move allows her to essentially slow down her fall, making her descent more manageable no matter the height or what caused her to fall in the first place. This is not to be mistaken for flight, as it is impossible to rise higher with this move, it simply allows her to essentially fall with a bit more style. * '''Static Contraction: '''This move allows Tali to make an opponent's muscles contract and tense up tot he point of causing severe pain. This attack requires her to get up close and lay her hand on her opposition and infuse electrons into their system, causing their muscles to stiffen. Contraction can actually be taken one step further, a technique she developed in the rare situation where lethal force is permissible/required. By surging the Electrons at a rapid pace into their system and connecting them on a cellular level, Tali can effectively distort or cancel out the electrical field which binds all matter together. Essentially, she can dissolve an entire human being in a minute's time. This was a heavily criticized move by her teachers, but one which ultimately couldn't be given a reason to not exist, nor was it on the table to delete the move from her mind. * '''Photon Blast: '''As simple a move as it comes. Tali charges up an excessive amount of Photons and Light waves in her hand which she then expels in a bright flash, causing immense damage at close ranges and blinds opponents with the bang of light. The blast can cause a whole block of concrete to shatter to pieces with the explosion, or at it's lowest level, can send a human being hurtling through the air and land some ten feet away from her. She has used this move to blow open obstacles most commonly, but in the case of combat, it is a most efficient means of battle. * '''I'm Everywhere: '''Tali's most complicated move by far. This ability allows Tali to infuse her body with a nearly overwhelming amount of electrons into her body. This grants her no increased effects of strength, speed or any such things which are otherwise attributed to her speed-enhancers. Instead, what it does is that it incorporates a property of the quantum particle into her being. Electrons possess' the ability to exist and occupy more than one location at once, which when unified with her own being, allows her to replicate the same feat. Many mistakes this ability for a cloning technique, but such a claim would be faulty. They are both Tali, indistinguishable from each other and unified in purpose and thought. This technique essentially allows her to double her power output by using another her to dish out equal amounts of power. There is no greater risk to this technique beyond that she must be able to manage both her bodies at once, directing them to her whims and deciding their actions. If she is left distracted she could end up being unable to respond to a threat towards one of her self's. What's more, as it is not a clone but rather herself occupying two areas at once, any damage dealt to one of her selves is also inflicted to her other self. * '''Solar Rays: '''Tali expells a great amount of her stored light within her into an extremely powerful spray of photon javelins. This move possesses unparalleled destructive power for a youth her age, able to punch through meters think slabs of concrete with laughable ease. This move has been nicknamed "The Apocalypse", and with all due right considering what it can do. Of course, the amount of power can be restrained to a lesser amount, however, because of the drawbacks. No matter the level of power she puts into it, by using this move she receives a sheen around her body that absorbs all light for a full twenty-four hours, leaving her vulnerable should she expend the rest of her stored light and being unable to replenish. * '''Raijin's Bo: '''Tali uses a combination of her Photons and Electrons to conjure forth a Bo Staff of electrical light. This staff allows her to perform strikes at a longer range and with impressive speed and agility at that. The staff's strikes stuns the opponent from the cheer amount of voltage and ampere within it, keeping all those struck in a constant and endless cycle of paralyzation. Each strike of the staff results in small, concentrated blast of electricity and photons upon the point of impact, which can cause severe pinpoint damage. Tali most commonly uses this move when she wishes to keep her opposition in a constant stun-locked state while also keeping her distance. The staff can not, however, maintain its shape forever. It becomes clear when the staff starts to lose its strength as it begins to flicker out of existence, giving those attentive a hint of when the time is running out. * '''Thor's Bow: '''Tali uses a combination of her Photons and Electrons to conjure forth a Longbow of electrical light. This bow is the perfect stealth weapon for Tali. It is quiet, powerful and its ammunition is near impossible to spot. The bow and arrows absorbs the ambient light in the area, and with the electrical currents keep the light from escaping again, essentially becoming like a black hole in a sense, not in that it has the same kind of power, but rather that it becomes invisible to see, since no light is escaping and reflecting from it, it is not visible. The arrows in question work just like the bow, but unlike the bow which is invisible at all times, the ammunition becomes visible after a short while. However, on ranges of 75 yards or less, there is no chance to visibly spot the arrow as it travels too fast for such. * '''Strings of Neith: '''Tali uses a combination of her Photons and Electrons to conjure forth a collection of strings made of electrical light. The strings can be as blunt as common yarn threat, or it can be as potently sharp as the keenest of scalpel blades and beyond. The strings are most flexible and prehensible, able to bend and shape in a multitude of ways, all while being under absolute control of Tali. The issue stands that it is a very new move for her, and with so many wires taking form and being wielded at a time it leaves for a multitude of risks of tripping or losing track of one or two of the wires. Despite it, she is a very capable string wielder, able to bind and cut her foes with them, as displayed when she utilized them to cut a ballistic-gel human doll to pieces. * '''Neith's Barrier-Weave: '''In addition to being able to attack and bind her foes with the wires, her skill with the strings have grown to such an extent where she can weave them together to shape up simple tools or even a barrier-weave of these strings to protect herself from all manners of harm. She proved able to use this barrier-weave to block an armor-piercing bullet from a Sniper Rifle, ward off a lighter debris shot from Rana Ryuuka, and even defend herself from a punch from Dante's Hydra-Muscled fist. * '''Photon Rise: Tali uses her photons to essentially fly around as she pleases. The photons appear as small jets of photons and lightwaves from her body which propels her to and fro. Typically this technique is much slower than her speed enhancers, but it makes up for it by allowing her to reach much greater height and to fly for extended periods of time. * Hammer of Khepri: '''Tali conjures up a hammer of pure photons, hardening and amassing it into the form of a blazing hot hammer. This hammer carries up to a stack of six, meaning that she can use and spend six hammers before she runs dry and will have to rely on other moves for victory. This is her third strongest move according to her, only slightly behind the '''Cannon of Amaterasu and the Solar Rays. The hammer can allow her to strike through hardened steel and meter thick concrete in just a few meager hits. They can also be thrown at her opponents to create heated explosions of photons. The Hammers can also be combined with another hammer in order to form the larger and stronger Khepri's Warhammer. The Warhammer is nearly three times as strong as a singular hammer, however, unlike the singular hammer, this one cannot be thrown at her opponents, and can only be used in melee. Despite its size, it is shocking how light and agile she can be with it, mostly seeing as it practically weighs nothing in her hands. * Ra's Khopesh: '''Tali manipulates her photons and light waves into forging up a sword with a blazing hot edge. The Khopesh is one of her faster weapons and can practically cut through anything put before her. The blade is heated by the unending movement of the light which makes up the sword, constantly increasing in heat unless she maintains it. While she can wield it with basically no repercussions for it, essentially not feeling the heat emanating from it, keeping it at higher temperatures will drain her stockpiled light very quickly if not careful. * '''Cannon of Amaterasu: '''The Cannon of Amaterasu is Tali's second strongest move in her arsenal, second only to the '''Solar Rays. The cannon is pretty straightforward in how it is performed. Tali will cup her hands together and gather copious amounts of light between her palms, letting the light travel back and forth, building up power and heat the longer she does it, not that it really requires it. When she deems it ready, she will crack her hands open forward, sending out a potent beam of solar light against her opposition, scorching and pummeling them to a crispy pulp. The beam, much like the rays, often requires some restraint as not everyone is deserving of being so thoroughly beaten. * Sol's Targe: '''The Sol's Targe is a move which consists of Tali gathering photons and binding them to the shape of a Targe Shield, exciting the photon particles and lightwaves to the point where it becomes comparable to fire in its heat levels. The shield primary field of use is surprisingly not as a defense, but rather a weapon, and something of a ranged one at that. This shield can to a slight extent absorb kinetic energy and neutralize it, but mainly she simply throws the shield at her opponent or performs a jab or bash with it. In closed spaces, she can throw it at angles that make it ricochet and bounce towards her opponents before calling it back. * '''Fading Sun: '''Tali awaits her opponent to deliver a blow, and once it connects, even if only so slightly, she will scatter into countless photons. This move is to temporarily surprise and stun her opponent while she prepares for something else. This move is a calculated one, meaning that she must decide ahead of time how long it will take before she re-assembles herself. This can prove an issue for the prepared or expecting, as they can simply wait her out until she puts herself back together, making her a more vulnerable target. '''Stats Relationships Family= Adam Shimamura (KANJI, ROMAJI) is Tali's father, a villain with the ability to take control over quantum particles and use them for a variety of purposes. Tali has always been insecure about her father, not due to him being a bad man or abusive of any sort, but rather due to how well connected she was with her mother, a woman who despised Adam, an opinion which has slightly rubbed off on Tali. This insecurity would eventually fester into pure hate for the man. She feels nothing short of contempt for her father, and this distaste has led her to take a few too many risks in the attempt to grow stronger so that she can defeat him some day. For everything he has done and cost her, she wants him to face the repercussions of his actions and be brought to justice. Dante Shimamura (KANJI, ROMAJI) is Tali's brother, a young man capable of transforming into a massive hydra creature, increasing his size, strength, and durability to ludicrous heights. Dante was the worse for wear out of the two siblings after the passing of their mother and losing their father. Dante entered a deep depression, remaining mostly unresponsive to the world. Their relationship became a bit strained from that point. Tali would suggest a game, and he would just sulk on a bed. For a time she attempted to fill the hole that their mom left behind, only to fail time and time again. Their relationship imrpoved vastly after a time. A time where Tali stopped acting motherly and just acted her role of sister, and overall acting simply joyous and cheerful, something which aggrevated Dante for a time. He accused her of having forgotten their mom and that she had no right to be so happy. With no hostility or condescension, she simply replied: "Remember when Mother was at her lowest? It was when we were sad." That was it. That was all. It proved to be the turning point for Dante's demeanor, improving vastly even if he is still suffering to some extent, and as such, Tali has made it her purpose and goal to make sure to keep Dante from ever reaching such a low point again, by being that bright shining light that he can always find comfort and kindness with. |-| Classmates= |-| Other= Akira Jimakawa (Akira Jimakawa) is a former friend and girlfriend of Tali's. Akira and Tali's history goes way back, as far back as kindergarten, beginning as friends and eventually blossoming into a far stronger bond. As children they could hardly be much more different from eachother. Tali was something of a snob, with an ego swelled from constant praise and applause because of her quirk, who despised the idea of getting her hands dirty. On the other end of the spectrum stood Akira Jimakawa, a common girl from the town outskirts, happily playing by herself in the sandbox, a mind absent from talk of heroes and quirks. Even they are unsure of how they became friends, they just know that they did and that nothing would be able to replace those fond memories. Although they do suspect a certain incident which sticks out to them even till this day. It was during both their first year of kindergarten when Akira was attacked by a group of meanspirited little brats who looked down on her for not having a quirk. Tali rushed to her rescue, and while more out of a sense of duty than caring, she held them off until the teachers could interfere. Since then they began socializing until such a point where they eventually became the best of friends. Through their relationship, they would make three very important promises to one another, promises which eventually would cause their ultimate heartbreak. After a time, they began to feel something more for eachother, something that reached further than friendship, thought they were still too young to understand it. Akira had always thought that Tali looked cute, and once they entered school, that feeling blossomed under the idea of that you needed to be "together" with someone, and if you were not, then you were weird. Not wanting Tali to be seen as weird, though an even greater part of her finding the thought of having Tali spend more time with someone else to be a horrid one. So, she asked her to be her girlfriend, to which Tali accepted, mostly because she was unsure of why AJ wanted to, and did not want to be rude. After a short time, Tali was made aware of the purpose when they were playimg together; A game of knight and princess like always, where AJ then "proposed" to Tali, both of them promising that they would get married some day. At the time, neither of them trully understood the concept of such a love and what their promise entailed, but they did it all the same, swearing to stay together forever and ever. Despite being such a childish vow and relationship to begin with, they managed to hold on to that bond for many years. By the age of 13, they had officially started dating as a serious couple, going to all these places that couples were supposed to do, and doing all those things that a couple was supposed to do. Their go-to location was the local park where they would do everything from play around, reminiscing about old time and feeding the local animals. It was a simple place for a simple time, and they cherished every moment of it. What they have come to consider the second saddest moment in their relationship was when they found out that their park was going to be torn down in favor of some new appartment buildings for the nation's growing population. It was then that they made their second promise. Still clinging to the idea of marriage, the two of them vowed that one day, after getting married and getting rich, they would buy themselves a huge house with their own private park-garden, free from intruders and unwanted teardowns. And this promise, much like the last one, they held onto with an iron fist. It was during their high school days that they would face their first real obstacle as a couple. As two growing women, eventually comes the point where they must both discover what it is that they want out of their lives when the time of adulthood approaches, and what hobbies there are out there that attracts. Until now they had both practically devoted every single day to eachother, but as Akira began to discover the joys and excitement of sports, they slowly began to spend less and less tiem together due to her intense training regime. The team was thuroughly in agreement that she was the best player and that she could take it that one extra step. Tali quickly became frustrated with this, accusing AJ of distancing herself from her. AJ found her concerns both juvenile and unwarranted. So what if she spent some extra time on something that wasn't her? No harm could come out of finding a new pass-time. This became an argument that escalated beyond control over the weeks to come, with missed or cancelled dates, less time spent with eachother and so forth. After a particularly strong blow out between the two, Akira feared that their relationship was over. That dread was carried with her through training and all the way to the Junior School Olympics. In her lowest moment, Akira received a tap on her shoulder, turning around to find Tali in their school uniform with a heart with the initials A and J sewn into her Tali's Jacket. After a short moment of reconciliation, Tali asked for forgiveness, finishing off with: "We are strong enough to endure any hardship." With the realization in hand that less time spent didn't have to mean a weaker relationship, they set out with a new promise to always support eachother through whatever aspirations and choices they would make. A few years later, they were soon to graduate from high school and move on to their next step in their lives. Both of them had been looking through school of which to attend. With their scores and performances, they were bound to be accepted to just about any place they so desired. There was only one complication: Apparently, what AJ had assumed was surrender of the hero ambition when Tali didn't apply last year, proved to be little more than a delay. With her brother now of age to apply, they were both now going to apply and attend T.S.J High School. Akira was furious, lashing out at Tali for going against their deal regarding their future. To Tali, she was doing nothing but upholding her promise. She was aiming for a high-payment job that would all but assure her the finance required for all their dreams. The huge house, the garden in the backyard and more. All of this could be theirs. And while, for a time, Tali had given up on her heroine dreams, the news that Dante was going to enroll and wanting his beloved sister to join him, left her with a feeling of that destiny was playing it's hand. With an exchange of harsh words and physicality, the two parted ways. After Tali had been tested and accepted into T.S.J, Tali attempted to approach Akira to celebrate, for surely she would want to show support of her now, right? Only, it did not turn out as intended. AJ slammed the door in her face, parting with a rather harsh: "Leave me alone." Weeks passed and Tali continously attempted to make contact with her girlfriend. Call after call, door knock after door knock. On the day of her entrance unto the school, she tried one last time to reach AJ. When her call was met with a voice recording she felt that enough is enough. In a fit of frustration and near hair-tearing rage, Tali made her voice heard all the same with a single message: "The engagement is canceled". More than just words, it were words which unbound the two of them. The two had long since agreed that it was a childish promise, but still one that mattered. It was far more than some juvenile vow to be wed, it was a promise to always stay together. Till this very day, Tali has regretted the message, but what was said will remain said, and her every attempt to reconcile has been met with absolute failure. The number she once had is no longer in use, her adress where she had always lived no longer housed the girl as she had moved on to a higher education, leaving Tali with nothing to do about it. She still keeps the plastic ring she received so many years ago, it's luster long since faded, much like their feelings. While Tali can no longer imagine them together, she still wants more than nearly anything for them to be friends again.